I need your help..

Hey, I'm sorry if you guys have been approached by a million people new to this needing help... but I really have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm 21, currently in college in Oklahoma, and recently got interested in this whole lifestyle. I'd love to get further into it, but since there are so many "experts" today, I don't even know where to turn. I found this website, found a few of you women that have completely inspired me, and decided you were the ones I'd love to get some counsel from, if you'd have me.

I'm 5'1", hover around 132#. I'm on blood pressure medication (which I hate) and thyroid meds. I recently enlisted my cousin to "train" me, but I don't think he understands exactly how serious I am about going for this. We're currently doing 4 sessions a week, one being mainly cardio, stretching and such the rest of the time.

I have the summer (3 months) to make as much progress as possible before I get back into school and schedule gets really difficult. I see a lot here about supplements, but I have no idea what to take or stay away from with my medication.

I've been reading a lot on here lately, and am trying to take it all in, but I still don't understand a lot of it. I don't even exactly know what I'm asking, or what TO ask, other than...

I have no idea what I'm doing, I know nothing about any of this, and I'm incredibly interested in all of it. Anybody that wants to help or give me some advice will be completely appreciated.

First of all, right now you do not need to worry about taking any supplements. Those will come in later, once you have gotten into the roll of things and know what you are doing.

What do you eat every day? Diet is the most important part of making any progress with fat loss or gaining lean muscle. You need to be getting a good ratio of Lean Protein (chicken, beef, egg whites, cottage cheese), Healthy fat (cheese, egg yolks, olive oil, unsweetened coconut, avocado) and Carbs (mostly veggies). You should calculate what your maintenance calories are by looking up a calorie calculator. If you want to maintain your weight/body fat you should eat however many calories will keep you maintaining. If you want to lose some fat you should then subtract 200-500 calories from your maintenance level.

What kind of weight lifting routine you do will depend on what your goals are. Circuits and supersets are good for fat loss as well as full body routines that incorporate compound movements such as squats, deadlifts, clean and press, rows, dips, pull ups, chin ups, push ups, bench.

Hey, I'm sorry if you guys have been approached by a million people new to this needing help... but I really have no idea what I'm doing.

I'm 21, currently in college in Oklahoma, and recently got interested in this whole lifestyle. I'd love to get further into it, but since there are so many "experts" today, I don't even know where to turn. I found this website, found a few of you women that have completely inspired me, and decided you were the ones I'd love to get some counsel from, if you'd have me.

I'm 5'1", hover around 132#. I'm on blood pressure medication (which I hate) and thyroid meds. I recently enlisted my cousin to "train" me, but I don't think he understands exactly how serious I am about going for this. We're currently doing 4 sessions a week, one being mainly cardio, stretching and such the rest of the time.

I have the summer (3 months) to make as much progress as possible before I get back into school and schedule gets really difficult. I see a lot here about supplements, but I have no idea what to take or stay away from with my medication.

I've been reading a lot on here lately, and am trying to take it all in, but I still don't understand a lot of it. I don't even exactly know what I'm asking, or what TO ask, other than...

I have no idea what I'm doing, I know nothing about any of this, and I'm incredibly interested in all of it. Anybody that wants to help or give me some advice will be completely appreciated.

Thanks
Kristin

Kristin, first you need to have a goal, but from what you've said I'm assuming that you want to lose fat. In that case, read the following "Fat Loss Information" below; it tells you everything you need to know, and is perfect for you, since you are new to all of this.

You have a timeframe (i.e. 3 months), now you need a SPECIFIC goal (and it needs to be measurable and achievable).

As for supplements, you don't need any right now, not even the basics really (you can start using them once you've been training for a little longer); aside from a multivitamin.

Ok, I am going to assume that you know nothing. Please don’t take this personally; it’s just easier for me to explain everything from scratch, if you know what I mean. Hope this all helps you.

LOSING FAT Part 1 (Goals)

The first thing that you need to do, BEFORE you look at diet and exercise, is to set some goals. Look at what you are now, and what you want to be. Your end goal can be WHATEVER you want, because, as long as you give yourself a realistic timeframe to achieve it in, you can achieve ANYTHING that you want! Once you have set your long-term goal, then you need to set smaller goals – these are your short-term goals that will help you get there. Goals should be SMART goals.

LOSING FAT Part 2 (Diet)

Losing fat is really easy. The FIRST thing you should look at is your DIET (which I explained to you), since fat loss depends 90%+ on what you put in your mouth and when.

ROSIE’S DIET TIPS FOR FAT LOSS

1. First, you need to work out what your MAINTENANCE calories are (There are various methods and equations that you can use to calculate this (there is an estimation method in post #2 at Help determine my calories, but remember that is is only an ESTIMATION and often calculations UNDERestimate Maintenance; most take into account current body mass, height, and activity level). Then, to lose fat, you need to make sure that you’re having up to 500 calories LESS than maintenance. Depending on how fast or slow you lose the fat, you can adjust and tweak your calorie intake each week.2. Eat every 2-3 hours after waking. This helps keep the metabolism going throughout the day, as well as keeping insulin levels stable (so, you can see that 3 meals is simply NOT enough, even small portions).
3. EVERY meal should have complex carbohydrates [CHO] (i.e. kumara, rice, oats, etc.), QUALITY LEAN protein (chicken breast, fish, tuna, salmon, lean beef, egg whites, etc.), and FIBROUS CHO (i.e. vegetables, green ones in particular).
4. Drink 4.5 litres of water per day. This will help keep the system clean.
5. It has been proven that TWO servings of DAIRY per day helps lose MORE fat than if one avoids it altogether.
6. Do NOT avoid fat (The only fat she should be avoiding is Saturated fat and Trans fats). You NEED fat in your diet, as fat plays major roles in energy metabolism and other parts of your body (Wardlaw & Hampl, 2007). Make sure to have at least 30 grams of GOOD fats (i.e. flaxseeds or flaxseed oil, fish oils, peanut butter, nuts - especially almonds and walnuts, hempseed oil, olive oil, etc.) per day (i.e. this is ~2 tbsp of flaxseed oil or peanut butter).
7. Don’t drink tea or coffee. Try drinking GREEN tea instead; it helps with thermogenesis, and is especially good if you take it one hour before doing cardio first thing in the morning.
8. Don’t drink alcohol. Alcohol has NO nutritional value and is full of calories.
9. Minimize adding salt to food. Instead, flavour a meal with herbs and spices (i.e. ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, curry powder, chilli powder, and garlic all help thermogenesis a bit).
10. The only sugar needed on a regular basis is the NATURAL sugars found in food; these are mostly found in fruit. Too much sugar plays havoc with insulin levels and these should be as stable as possible throughout the day. The best time to be having sugar is straight AFTER a RESISTANCE workout, when the body is trying to replenish muscle glycogen stores (Burke, 2006).
11. Do NOT avoid CHO. You NEED at least 50-100 grams of CHO per day for your body to burn fat effectively. A good guideline is to have at least 1 gram of CHO per kg of body mass per day as a MINIMUM (Burke, 2006).
12. Eat most food as 'natural' as possible. This means fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, grains, etc. Try not to eat too much packaged food, as it is full of extra calories and sugar.
13. Most importantly, remember that it IS OK TO CHEAT every now and then. Actually the body NEEDS cheat meals and day. By throwing all the guidelines I have just mentioned above out of the way and having a day where you eat what you want it helps, and will also help prevent your body from going into starvation mode (where the body battles you to hold onto the fat as much as it can). If you prefer NOT to ‘cheat’, then adding in 1-2 higher CALORIE days (i.e. go up to Maintenance, or even Bulking, or even slightly higher), with the extra calories coming from quality COMPLEX CHO, you should be ok.

Supplements should NOT be a big deal, as most fat loss can be done through simply eating the right food at the right time. And unless everything that you’re doing is already done to ensure the maximum results in the timeframe that you want to achieve it in, and then supplementation should not be the focus. However, there ARE a few supplements that I think are important to any regime:

1. A multivitamin. (Although you should be eating as much of a variety of food as possible, in order to meet the RDI/AI of most nutrients from actual food).
2. Creatine monohydrate. Creatine helps the body to recover faster, as well as aiding in increasing strength levels and lean body mass [LBM].
3. Flaxseed/Hempseed/Fish Oil. This is the GOOD fats. Flaxseed or Hempseed oil is great with breakfast or in protein shakes.
4. Protein Powder. This just helps for the in-between meals, or after the gym, and to make sure that you get enough protein in (You should be having 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body mass per day; this is so that muscle loss is prevented, and can even assist in small gains in LBM).

Apart from these 4 ‘base’ supplements, you don’t need a lot (supplements are just a way for companies to make money. You can do everything without them!). And forget about using fat-burners or thermogenics; they are a waste of time unless you are ALREADY lean and are looking for that ‘extra edge’ to lose the last 1-2% bodyfat (i.e. like a fitness competitor, etc.)

LOSING FAT Part 3 (Exercise)

You will lose fat by dieting alone, but not as effectively as you would using a calorie controlled diet AND exercise plan. If you just dieted, you would end up as a smaller version of yourself right now. Exercise helps you to build muscle (which helps you to burn more calories and lose more fat in the process), as well as helping you feel good about yourself, and providing a way to distress.

The best exercise programme for losing fat is one that includes weights, cardio (mostly in the form of high intensity stuff), and some flexibility (just to help your joints).

Resistance Training

Since you are a beginner, start off with 2 days per week (and graduate to 3-4 days after 4-6 weeks). I would recommend full-body sessions in a circuit style fashion, as these will not only increase your cardiovascular fitness, but your muscular endurance and strength, and help burn fat faster. Exercises that you should be doing are multijoint, compound exercises, as they use more than one muscle, and are the most effective for not only building muscle, but also in burning fat, because they are recruiting more of your body to perform the exercise than isolation exercises (these are a waste of time unless you are looking for a pump close to competition, really). The best compound exercises that you can do are the squat and the deadlift, as they use pretty much EVERY muscle in your body. Other compound exercises that are good to include are the power clean, bench press, shoulder press, pull-ups, dips, as well as calf raises (the only isolation exercise that’s really good). You should never spend longer than 45-50 minutes in total lifting (i.e. your session should take that long from the time you walk in to the time you walk out, excluding if you do a warm-up – and this is strictly your own preference); otherwise you become too catabolic and end up losing muscle. You also need to change your weights programme around slightly every 4-6 weeks, just so that your body does not get used to it and stop adapting. This can be as little as changing the order of exercises in a session or the number of sets and/or reps that you do for an exercise (and it only needs to be one exercise changed at a time, small adjustments over the weeks).

Here’s a sample circuit:

This is a very basic routine, designed to get you 'used' to resistance training again, whilst also targeting your goals, and is ok to start with. After 4-6 weeks you will need to change your programme.

Instructions: Do an easy 10 min warm-up. Select weights that you can do for said reps on each exercise (but not too much more), and use these for the entire session. Complete exercises in order from 1-8, with minimal recovery (ideally it should be moving from one exercise to another; but since you are a beginner 30-60 seconds will be ok). At the end of one set (i.e. 1-10) rest for 1-2 minutes, and then repeat. You can increase to 3 sets after 2-4 weeks (or as you see fit). Stretch full-body for 5 mins after session. This should take ~45 minutes in TOTAL. Every week your weights should increase (i.e. not on ALL sessions, but keep weights the same for a week, and increase as you can for the next week's sessions), so that you keep challenging your body.

I highly recommend getting a personal trainer, so that you can be shown the correct technique (very important) for each exercise. Also so that they can be there with you for your first few sessions, to determine starting weights, as you get acquainted with resistance training. They're also good for motivation, support, and ACCOUNTABILITY.

Be sure that you ALWAYS use good form for EVERY exercise; otherwise you are putting yourself at risk for injury. All reps should be CONTROLLED and with good form (don’t cheat). It’s not about how MUCH you can lift, but how WELL you lift. You WILL get stronger as you keep at it (although maybe not so much when trying to lose fat, but this depends on the individual).

Make sure that you have a protein shake with some simple sugar (i.e. fruit smoothie with ice and protein powder is great here) as soon as possible after your resistance training, and then a PROPER meal (i.e. including ~50 grams of complex CHO, ~30 grams of protein, fibrous CHO) about 30 minutes after your post-workout shake.

Cardio

Long, slow cardio burns calories, yes, but you are doing that for a long period of time. The most effective way to burn fat through cardio is to do a) Interval training (i.e. efforts), or b) do your cardio at a HIGHER intensity (i.e. just going out and running as fast as you can over a certain distance, instead of 45 minutes at a 60% HRmax). Forget about the ‘Fat Burning Zone’; the harder you work during cardio, the more fat you lose. When I first attempted to lose fat (and I still do this NOW) I did something called ‘Guerrilla Cardio’ (GC). It is tabata intervals done sprinting (instead of on a bike). All you do jog lightly for 4 minutes as a ‘warm-up’; then you do 8 x 20 seconds hard-out-as-fast-as-you-can sprints/efforts, and jog easy for 10 seconds after each one; finishing with a 4 minutes easy jog ‘cool-down’. I do GC (or variations of it; now I increase how many efforts I do, and sometimes do up to 32) 3 days a week, with a rest day between each one, as it is very hard and takes a lot out of you. If you do this, and you are doing weights and eating to lose fat, then you will most definitely see results. If you feel that you NEED to do MORE cardio, you can do brisk walks every other day, or perhaps a run (but no MORE than 30 minutes; after 30 minutes of running you are very catabolic and are likely to lose muscle, which you don’t want to happen). Skipping, stair sprinting/running, or rowing, are the next highest calorie burners after sprinting. Some people will tell you that you need to be doing 2 hours of cardio a day, or double cardio sessions, to lose fat, but as long as you are eating RIGHT, doing weights 2-4 times per week, doing cardio 3 or more times per week for 12-30 minutes per day (depending on the intensity; the higher the intensity the shorter you do it for!), and allowing your body to RECOVER (this is VERY important; if you do TOO much, then your body won’t be able to recover properly and you won’t get the results you want, since your body only adapts and gets results in the RECOVERY time!), then you will lose fat!

Flexibility

Just stretch for 10-20 minutes per day, preferably AFTER you have done either cardio or weights, while your muscles are still warm. This just makes sure that you can move freely and easily.

Remember that MORE is not always best! You want maximal results for minimal time. You also need to remember that some of this is experimental, and about finding what works best for YOU, since everyone is different and responds differently to diet and exercise.

I also suggest that you actually look around and do some personal research for yourself. Educate yourself on training and diet. And if you get a personal trainer, then get them to tell you WHY they give you what they do; you should ALWAYS know WHY you are doing what you are doing, and it should always have a purpose towards your end goal.

I'd love to be as educated as I can about all this, and am wanting to take a class at the university here if I can. It's just hard to find information online geared toward someone that wants to know the "why/how things work" aspect without being educated on any of it at all yet. I just need to be asking more questions I guess.

About my diet: I actually stick to what's been said above pretty well, due to the whole blood pressure ordeal with my doctor. I drink caffiene-free tea, no soda, no coffee. No extra salt or sugar added. In the calorie calculator, here's what I get:
Maintenance:
1791 Calories/day
Fat Loss:
1433 Calories/day
Extreme Fat Loss:
1074 Calories/day

Not quite sure what calculator you used. However remember that it is just an ESTIMATION, and that usually these calculations UNDERestimate maintenance (i.e. using the method in post #2 in the thread cited it comes out with ~2138 cal/day as my maintenance, when it is in fact closer to 3200 cal/day).

I would never recommend going below 1200 cal/day. And if you were at 1200 cal/day, not staying there for very long.

IMO, calorie/carbohydrate cycling: 3-4 days lower than maintenance calories/lower carbohydrate (but never lower than 50-100 g/day) and 1-2 days of higher then maintenance calories/high carbohydrates (pretty much cheat days where you eat what you want) is the best nutrition method to achieve fat loss.

I would start at only 200 cal/day less than maintenance (i.e. 1550-1600 cal/day), and then adjust as necessary at the end of each week based on your results.

Remember that the faster you lose weight/fat, the less likely it is that it will stay off. And you want it to stay off.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

I think I need to work on portion size, and having smaller meals throughout the day instead of the main 3.

Yes. 5-6 meals a day will keep your metabolism going better than just three.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

As far as goals, I'd love to set one but I don't know what I can realistically expect.

Re weight/fat loss, realisticaly, through diet and training alone you can safely lose 1kg (i.e. 2.2lb) and/or 0.5% BF per week. Find out where you are now. Know what you want to be at. Calculate the weeks to get there using that as a guideline.

Re strength and endurance gains; this depends on what you want, and will vary from person to person. However, gains should be made every week, provided that your training is set up so.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

I'm taking Omega-3's daily (doctor had me on it already), and I got some protein powder because I know I have a hard time getting enough. I also got a multi-vitamin.

Good. That's all you need.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

To give you an example of what type of training he's got me doing, here's the schedule he's given for Friday & Monday.

If he's a doctor (i.e. a medical professional and not a fitness professional) then he's NOT the person who should be giving you a training programme. It's ok, if you were just starting out; however you need to move from training entirely for endurance (especially if you've been doing this for anything longer than 4-6 weeks) to working on a mix of hypertrophy and strength.

You only need to do 2 days a week. Using an Upper and Lower Body split is fine.

I'd love to be as educated as I can about all this, and am wanting to take a class at the university here if I can. It's just hard to find information online geared toward someone that wants to know the "why/how things work" aspect without being educated on any of it at all yet. I just need to be asking more questions I guess.

Thanks again

Taking classes is a great idea. You should know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how it fits in with your goals (i.e. don't do anything that's not going to help you achieve your goals).

Not quite sure what calculator you used. However remember that it is just an ESTIMATION, and that usually these calculations UNDERestimate maintenance (i.e. using the method in post #2 in the thread cited it comes out with ~2138 cal/day as my maintenance, when it is in fact closer to 3200 cal/day).

Alright, I went back and used the method you gave me. (Somehow didn't realize it was there the first time through.) I ended up with ~2038 cal/day. So I should focus on staying around 1500-1700 on those 3-4 lower days? I feel like I could easily stick to this thanks to going through hell with a (very stupid) low-cal diet (around 1100-1200/day) before I figured out that was a HORRIBLE way to go.

Re weight/fat loss, realisticaly, through diet and training alone you can safely lose 1kg (i.e. 2.2lb) and/or 0.5% BF per week. Find out where you are now. Know what you want to be at. Calculate the weeks to get there using that as a guideline.

With 11 weeks until September, and using 2 lbs/week as a goal, I come up with 22 lbs. That would put me right at 110. Honestly, getting down to 115-120 would make me happy, as long as I was beginning to see muscles. Of course I'm sure by that point I'll be addicted and will stop at nothing.

If he's a doctor (i.e. a medical professional and not a fitness professional) then he's NOT the person who should be giving you a training programme.

It's my cousin, who coaches during the year, and does PT during the summer. Which makes it an awkward situation to question him, but I definitely will if I'm getting the wrong training. We started a week ago.

You only need to do 2 days a week. Using an Upper and Lower Body split is fine.

Alright, I went back and used the method you gave me. (Somehow didn't realize it was there the first time through.) I ended up with ~2038 cal/day. So I should focus on staying around 1500-1700 on those 3-4 lower days? I feel like I could easily stick to this thanks to going through hell with a (very stupid) low-cal diet (around 1100-1200/day) before I figured out that was a HORRIBLE way to go.

Yes. Start at 1700-1800 calories on the lower days, and have anything you like above 2100 calories on the higher days. Low calories diets ARE stupid, and completely UNnecessary. Honestly, my calories are anywhere between 1800-4000+ cal/day and I successfully maintain a very low BF% all year round.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

With 11 weeks until September, and using 2 lbs/week as a goal, I come up with 22 lbs. That would put me right at 110. Honestly, getting down to 115-120 would make me happy, as long as I was beginning to see muscles. Of course I'm sure by that point I'll be addicted and will stop at nothing.

Just remember NOT to focus on the SCALE WEIGHT (if you gain some muscle, but lose some fat, your scale weight may not change at all, or may even go up a little, since muscle weighs more than fat). Your BODY COMPOSITION should be what is important. The only way you are going to "see muscles" is if you a) are lean enough, and b) have the muscle there to see. If you just lose weight, but you don't have the muscle mass there, you will just end up looking skinny. And if you just lose weight, but you lose muscle as well as fat, then not good either; you want to make sure that you're only losing FAT.

I would recommend knowing what your BF% is, and setting a goal from there (i.e. if you're 20% BF, aiming to get to say 15% BF or something), instead of focusing on a weight.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

It's my cousin, who coaches during the year, and does PT during the summer. Which makes it an awkward situation to question him, but I definitely will if I'm getting the wrong training. We started a week ago.

So long as he is qualified to be writing such programmes and KNOWS what he's doing (and doesn't just have a certification) then should be ok.

If you only started a week ago, then it is ok. However, would still change the exercise order and take some out. As I mentioned in my long post, isolation exercises are a waste of time; doing compound, multijoint exercises are better for gaining muscle mass and burning fat.

Originally Posted by KristinJ

What does HIIT mean? Or does that just refer to the way you outlined?

HIIT means high-intensity interval training. And yes, it refers to the way I outlined it above. The Guerilla Cardio I mentioned in my long post is an example of this.

Just remember NOT to focus on the SCALE WEIGHT (if you gain some muscle, but lose some fat, your scale weight may not change at all, or may even go up a little, since muscle weighs more than fat). Your BODY COMPOSITION should be what is important. The only way you are going to "see muscles" is if you a) are lean enough, and b) have the muscle there to see. If you just lose weight, but you don't have the muscle mass there, you will just end up looking skinny. And if you just lose weight, but you lose muscle as well as fat, then not good either; you want to make sure that you're only losing FAT.

I would recommend knowing what your BF% is, and setting a goal from there (i.e. if you're 20% BF, aiming to get to say 15% BF or something), instead of focusing on a weight.

I like to use scale weight just as a reference, but I do understand that it definitely isn't the best indicator of progress.

I like to use scale weight just as a reference, but I do understand that it definitely isn't the best indicator of progress.

How do I go about finding out my %?

Scale weight can be a reference for whether or not you are losing or gaining weight, but it is no indicator of what the weight lost or gained is (i.e. lean body mass or fat).

There are various methods of finding out your BF%.

The gold standard is underwater weighting, but is not very practical and expensive.

Many people use bioelectrical impedance scales or handheld devices, but this is the most INaccurate way of gauging your body composition, since it can change based on varaity of factors (i.e. hydration levels, time of day, whether just ate or trained, etc.); and results can be out by up to 10% BF.

Others use a single ACCUmeasure caliper skinfold; this is generally inaccurate as well, but can be used as a reference if you cannot do anything else.

The method I would recommend is having a 6-8 skinfold caliper test done. Ideally, the person doing the test should be ISAK qualified, since this would mean that they KNOW what they are doing, and should be fairly accurate (with only a small percentage of error, and be accurate to within a 1-3 % BF). They should first make marks as to where the skinfolds will be taken from. Next they will do each skinfold once, in a specific order (triceps, subscapular, biceps, iliac crest, supraspinale, abdominal, thigh, calf). Then they will take the skinfolds again. Sometimes they may take some skinfolds three times (if the first two are not within a certain % of each other). They will then use a calculation to determine your BF% (using the sum of 6 skinfolds - all, excluding biceps and abdominal). If they don't follow those steps, then they're not really doing it properly and your results are likely to have a greater degree of error.

WHOOOAAAA... thats a lot of info on this page... its all just a headache

I've been using vastmuscle.com for 2 years now and am in the best shape of my life. Its always updated so you have a new workout every few weeks. They have exercise and dieting information to make sure you do it the right way. They have a great beginners section and ladies corner.

Just FYI from a nosy ready, the creatine for most people is per that person's makeup. A lot of people go for creatine and it's hard on the kidneys. If this person is taking meds for thyroid and pressure, it's already taxing her filtration, the creatine might affect that. It might not, not a doctor but that creatine is like a caberet. BYOB.

Just FYI from a nosy ready, the creatine for most people is per that person's makeup. A lot of people go for creatine and it's hard on the kidneys. If this person is taking meds for thyroid and pressure, it's already taxing her filtration, the creatine might affect that. It might not, not a doctor but that creatine is like a caberet. BYOB.

I'm actually just doing protein shakes, Fish Oil, and a multi-vitamin right now. I'm going to see how I do with just that.